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AUGUST 30,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

STUNNING – The Reuters tracking poll now shows the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to be tied.  Only last week the poll showed Clinton up by as much as 12 points.  Is the poll accurate?  I can't say, but there does seem to be an overall tightening of the race, not only nationally, but in some battleground states.  Hillary's ethics problems continue, the linking of her name with that of the FBI can't help, and Trump is improving as a candidate.  Also, Hillary and company may be going too far in calling Trump a racist.  It's backfiring.

PRIMARY VICTORIES – There were some important primaries today.  John McCain won the Republican nomination for a sixth term in the Senate.  He faces a tough re-election battle in Arizona in November, and his fate may be affected by how well Donald Trump does in the state.   Marco Rubio won a decisive primary victory in Florida for another term in the Senate.  Should he be re-elected in November, and should Trump lose the presidential race, Rubio would be a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2020.  Had he been the nominee this year, I believe he would have easily defeated Hillary Clinton. 

WOMEN AND GUNS – FROM THE DAILY SIGNAL –  A study by the Crime Prevention Research Center earlier this month found concealed-carry permits have boomed nationally, but particularly among women and minorities. “In eight states where we have data by gender, since 2012 the number of permits has increased by 161 percent for women and by 85 percent for men,” the report says.  I really don't find that shocking.  Gun rights go along with other rights, and modern women are exercising those rights.

August 30,  2016     Permalink 

A GOOD QUESTION FOR TRUMP – AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  Many Republicans are frustrated by Trump's failure to exploit the mess that is the age of Obama.  Symbolic of that mess is the continuing collapse of Obamacare, presumably Obama's "signature" domestic achievement.  (I wouldn't want my signature on that.)  From Byron York at the Washington Examiner:   

Obamacare is in deep trouble. The exchanges created by Barack Obama's signature achievement are attracting millions fewer customers than predicted. The makeup of the system's risk pool is older, sicker and costlier than anticipated. Some of the largest insurers in the nation have pulled out of the exchanges. Premiums are going up and expected to jump right before November's election. Perhaps more burdensome, deductibles have soared so high that some Americans who purchased coverage through the system are essentially self-financing their care.

Politically, Democrats own Obamacare, lock, stock and barrel. That includes Hillary Clinton, who is running on a pledge to "defend and expand the Affordable Care Act."

And...

These days, for a large part of the non-Medicaid population buying insurance on the individual market, Obamacare has become a very troubling presence. There could hardly be a better issue for a Republican presidential candidate to use against the Democrat seeking to succeed Barack Obama.

Yet Donald Trump remains virtually silent on Obamacare. Look at Trump's last 10 speeches — the number since Trump began delivering prepared-text teleprompter remarks. All came during a period of bad news about Obamacare. But, according to the texts released by the campaign, one Trump speech didn't mention Obamacare at all, while several others devoted just a few — really, a few — words to the subject.

And...

Trump has devoted a good deal of time to a quixotic mission to appeal to black voters. He has clumsily searched for a way to re-work the deportation part of his immigration policy. And, as usual, he has spent a lot of time doing TV interviews about all sorts of things.

And yet on an absolutely critical issue, one that cuts across health care and economic concerns, and one in which Trump has solid ground on which to attack Clinton, the GOP presidential candidate has spent virtually no time attacking a glaring Democratic vulnerability.

At one point, Republicans made opposition to Obamacare the centerpiece of their attacks on Democrats. Now that the system is actually coming apart, the GOP presidential nominee says virtually nothing at all.

COMMENT:  Those are good points, and York gives good advice.  What say you, Mr. Trump?  What would you do to battle the mess in Obamacare?   Voters want to know.

August 30, 2016       Permalink

TRAGEDY – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  The tragedy of black America continues.  A tragedy of underachievement and lack of educational stimulus.  Groups like "Black Lives Matter" concentrate only on creating tensions between African-Americans and everyone else.  But the real sadness is that, every day, black kids are falling short of their potential.  From the College Fix:   

As the percentage of graduating students who take the ACT college entrance exam goes up, their collective performance is going down.

Only 38 percent hit the “college-prepared benchmark” on at least three of the four core subject tests, down from 40 percent last year. The tests are reading, English, math and science. The composite score of all four tests dropped just two-tenths of a point.

But these overall results don’t tell the deep divides in performance by race, the Associated Press reports:

Forty-nine percent of white test-takers met the three-or-more benchmark, compared with 11 percent of African-Americans and 23 percent of Hispanic test-takers. But the gaps between the groups haven’t shifted that much, for better or worse, in the past four years.

Just as “alarming,” says ACT’s Paul Weeks, is that 1 in 3 students didn’t meet any benchmark this year, meaning they are “likely to struggle with first-year courses and end up in remedial classes that will delay degree completion and increase college costs.”

Also of note: Fewer ACT test-takers want to go to traditional college.

In the past four years, the proportion of students saying they would like to pursue vocational/technical and two-year degrees increased by 2 percent. The proportion aspiring to higher levels of education dropped by 6 percent.

COMMENT:  Well, that last fact might not be bad news.  We have probably, and vastly, overrated the value of a traditional college education.  There is nothing wrong with a technical school.  The country needs technicians a lot more than it needs ethnic-studies majors. 

Do you think I'll be arrested for that last statement?

August 30, 2016       Permalink

TRUMP MOVEMENT? – AT 10:06 A.M. ET:  Well, maybe.  We've seen plenty of elections where "movement" is reported toward a guy who then loses in a landslide.  Are we seeing the same today?  We'll find out soon.  But there is some "movement."  From The Hill:

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tied in Ohio, while Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, leads her GOP rival in Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to new polls that find tight races in three crucial Rust Belt states.

Three Emerson College polls released Monday found that Clinton and Trump each have 43 percent support in Ohio, while she leads him by 5 points in Michigan, 45 percent to 40 percent, and by 3 points in Pennsylvania, 46 to 43 percent.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson received 10 percent support in Ohio and 7 percent in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Green Party nominee Jill Stein got 3 percent support in Michigan and 2 percent in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Trump is doing better among independents in all three states, pollsters found. He has a 17-point margin over Clinton among those voters in Ohio but has a much more narrow lead in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Both Clinton and Trump face negative favorability ratings in all three states.

Clinton leads among female voters by double digits, and Trump has an edge among male voters.

Clinton is also leading among young voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but Trump holds a 12-point lead for voters between the ages of 18 and 34 in Michigan.

COMMENT:  I'm actually surprised that Trump is doing so well, given a year of self-inflicted wounds, but his relatively high numbers, in comparison with Hillary, may reflect her vast unpopularity and recent improvements in his campaign.  In order to squeeze out a victory, he will have to continue those changes, find a way to speak over the media to the American people, and actually come up with programs Americans like.  It's possible, but Trump is fighting tough odds.

August 30,  2016     Permalink 

AUGUST 29,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

SOCIAL NOTES – It is announced in New York that Ms. Huma Abedin, known professionally as
"body woman" to Hillary Clinton, has chosen to take leave of her husband, the formerly Honorable Anthony Weiner, late of the U.S. Congress.  Ms. Abedin reportedly objected to certain of Mr. Weiner's self portraits.  Mr. Bill Clinton, former president of the United States, disbarred lawyer and respected zipper expert, has sent a note to Mr. Weiner saying, "I know how it feels, bud."

A MYSTERY SOLVED – FROM FOX:   LOS ANGELES – The famous human ancestor known as Lucy walked the Earth, but it was her tree climbing that might have led to her demise, a new study suggests.  An analysis of her partial skeleton reveals breaks in her right arm, left shoulder, right ankle and left knee — injuries that researchers say resulted from falling from a high perch such as a tree.  Also, they found a letter from the tree owner's lawyer offering a settlement of three apples and ten leaves.

A LIFE AFTER POLITICS – FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE:  An entertainment website is reporting that former Gov. Rick Perry will be joining the new season of "Dancing With the Stars," but Perry's camp declined to comment on the report Monday night.   According to Entertainment Tonight, Texas's longest-serving governor will be a contestant in the 23rd season of the dance competition show, which premieres Sept. 12 on ABC.   The lineup is set to be announced Monday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America." ABC said Monday it does not comment on casting rumors.  Given our celebrity culture, maybe an appearance in a dance contest will boost Perry's chances at the presidential nomination in 2020.  Perry was an excellent governor, but could not connect with Republican voters in presidential primaries. 

August 29, 2016       Permalink

A SMALL START, BUT SOMETHING – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  To put it mildly, the Republican Party has neglected fast-growing minorities, especially Hispanics.  And yet, Hispanic-Americans, with their ambition, devotion to traditional values, and patriotism, are a natural Republican constituency.  Some Hispanics are now supporting Trump.  From Breitbart: 

ANAHEIM — A group called “Latinos for Trump” held its first rally in Orange County on Sunday, named “Operation Taco Bowl” after an infamous Donald Trump tweet. Hispanics and African Americans joined other Trump supporters in voicing both their support for the Republican presidential nominee and their opposition to the Democratic Party and its nominee, Hillary Clinton.
“The Democrats think they can own and acquire Hispanics’ loyalty for generations to come,” Jorge Herrera, 31, said into a microphone at a podium in front of Anaheim City Hall, where dozens of Trump supporters had gathered for the rally. “Who do they think they are? They will never own my loyalty. They will never own Hispanics’ loyalty.”

When asked how he feels about the Democratic Party claiming the Hispanic vote, Herrera told Breitbart News:

It’s just pandering. They don’t care about us. We can see middle class income down, Hispanic wealth is down, African-American wealth is down. You look at the top Democrat cities, they’re all down. It’s all about talk, no action. The statistics prove they have done nothing for everybody.

Asked how fellow Hispanics react to his political leanings, he said:

They’re not informed. They listen to Univision. They listen to the mainstream media, which happens to be very biased. They don’t know the truth and why we’re here, what we stand for. That’s why we’re having this event today and trying to get that message out to the community.

Approximately 60 people were at the rally, which saw no counter-protests.

COMMENT:   A small beginning.  Trump is now starting to reach out to minorities, but he'd better make it good, and professional, with a real program, especially one that features economic advancement. 

August 29, 2016       Permalink

HILLARY AND FRIENDS – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  It's so hard to have embarrassing friends.  Sometimes you just want to hide in the limo, or, better still, the White House.  We must help our Hillary through this new period of humiliation, even worse than the previous 33 periods of humiliation.   From Paul Mirengoff, at Powerline: 

The name Gilbert Chagoury will be familiar to many readers. He’s a friend of Bill Clinton and a major donor to the Clinton Foundation. According to Judicial Watch, which cites Clinton Foundation documents, Chagoury has appeared near the top of the Foundation’s donor list as a $1 million to $5 million contributor.

Chagoury’s name came up recently in a newly released 2009 email from Clinton Foundation official Doug Band to Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, who were then top aides to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Band told Mills and Abeden to put to put Chagoury in touch with the State Department’s “substance person” on Lebanon. Band explained that Chagoury is a “key guy [in Lebanon] and to us.”

At $1-5 million, you bet he’s a key guy to the Clintons.

In our post about this email, we noted that Chagoury was convicted in 2000 in Switzerland for laundering money from Nigeria. He is thus another in a long line of crooks with whom the Clintons have closely associated themselves, dating back to their Arkansas days.

But Chagoury isn’t just a crook. The Los Angeles Times reports that Chagoury was denied entry into the U.S. last year because of his ties to a Lebanese organization that has allegedly given money to the terrorist group Hezbollah. (Hat Tip: Chuck Ross at the Daily Caller.)

According to the LA Times, the State Department denied Chagoury’s visitor’s visa after he applied for one at the U.S. embassy in Paris last summer. The State Department made its determination based on a 2013 FBI intelligence report which cited sources saying that Chagoury gave money to Michel Aoun, a Lebanese politician who was suspected of “facilitating fundraising for Hezbollah.”

COMMENT:  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Probably just a misunderstanding, or those pesky law-enforcement types insisting on doing their jobs.  

We have become a society of breathtakingly low standards.  This is a major scandal, but the powers in the media just want us to "move on," the operative word of the Clintonistas and their fellow travelers.

August 29, 2016       Permalink 

BAD STUFF ALERT – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  Imagine international plotters who can do, from a computer, what big-city machines used to do with precinct captains.  From Michael Isikoff at Yahoo: 

The FBI has uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated two state election databases in recent weeks, prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems, according to federal and state law enforcement officials.

The FBI warning, contained in a “flash” alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News, comes amid heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers, aimed at disrupting the November elections.

Those concerns prompted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to convene a conference call with state election officials on Aug. 15, in which he offered his department’s help to make state voting systems more secure, including providing federal cyber security experts to scan for vulnerabilities, according to a “readout” of the call released by the department.

Johnson emphasized in the call that Homeland Security was not aware of “specific or credible cybersecurity threats” to the election, officials said. But three days after that call, the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, entitled “Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems.” The alert, labeled as restricted for “NEED TO KNOW recipients,” disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the “exfiltration,” or theft, of voter registration data. “It was an eye opener,” one senior law enforcement official said of the bureau’s discovery of the intrusions. “We believe it’s kind of serious, and we’re investigating.”

The bulletin does not identify the states in question, but sources familiar with the document say it refers to the targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois.

COMMENT:  If Vladimir Putin is elected president of the United States you'll know we have a problem.  I hope we act sooner than that.

We also have to be concerned about domestic hackers, especially those affiliated with political groups.  We cannot really say that the voting system is secure.  Maybe we'll have to go back to paper ballots, and I'm not being funny.

August 29,  2016     Permalink